Hello everyone, I am an international candidate applying to the US for fall 2017.
My stats:
GPA: 95.6/100
SAT 1: 1560/1600 (790 Math, 770 R&W)
SAT 2s: 780 (Math2) and 770 (Physics)
TOEFL: 116/120
Class rank 3/60
Preferred Major: Economics, Management, Business, CS (all feed my ambition to be an entrepreneur and I am indifferent between these).
ECs and Co-curriculars:
-First choice member of the Debate/MUN teams for the last 3 years in highschool.
-Have won multiple regional and national level debates/MUNs.
-Olympiads: International rank 33 in the International English Olympiad, Certificates of High Distinction in the Australian National Chemistry Quiz for two years (11-12) as well as regional champion.
-Have organised multiple events in school: school MUN conference and IT Festival etc.
-Held the post of the INFORMTATION TECHNOLOGY COORDINATOR in the Student Council for the year 2016-17.
-Avid Filmmaker: have won numerous regional filmmaking competitons, and of late have been making films to raise social awareness in collaboration with local NGOs.
-Have also done some drama: played the protagonist for my school’s platinum jubilee production, incidentally it was my first audition and I was picked ahead of seasoned actors in my school.
-Achieved Rank 86 in the UCEED, an undergraduate entrance exam for Bachelors in Design at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs: Indians would know what the hype is abut).
-Silver Standard holder in the Fryer Mathematics Challenge held by the University of Waterloo.
THREE MAJOR POINTS ON MY RESUME:
I have been interning with Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate for an upcoming venture named ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ and will be organising the Opening Ceremony which is to be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan (Indian equivalent of the White House). 100 Million for 100 Million is a large-scale venture which will be launched in 100+ countries to combat child labour, and I was intern #1 to be recruited for the campaign. As an intern, I have worked on event marketing, mass mobilisation and have even participated in dangerous RAIDS TO RESCUE CHILD LABOURERS FROM FACTORIES at great personal risk, since owners can often turn violent. Currently, I head a team of 150 interns from colleges in and around New Delhi.
Worked as a content developer at The Dais Education Initiative, where I developed modules on Public Speaking, Ethics and Morality to be used with high-school students. My modules have been used in close to 25 schools, in collaboration with Teach For India, which is a pan-India NGO.
During high-school, I joined as Employee #3 at The Football Chronicle, a football news website. Headed marketing and content development. TFC was widely lauded for its coverage of Indian Super League (2014 season) and gave Goal.com, the industry leader, a run for its money in the ISL coverage niche. TFC also organised 5-a-side tournaments in New Delhi and Noida. Had 125,000 unique users in and around New Delhi, and I bought the site from the original founders (both left for UC San Diego in fall 2015) in 2015. Due to excessive academic pressure, had to put it up on sale, and lack of suitors fored me to shut it down.
ESSAYS: I would say my essays are good, and while we cannot quantify essay excellence, I would say they would be in the 95th percentile of college essays.
LORs:
English and Physics teachers have both written me glowing recommendations.
I have two more LORs from my debating coach, and the Vice President of Mr Satyarthi’s NGO.
I also have a peer LOR which I might consider sending, but am not sure as of now.
FINALLY, THE COLLEGES I AM APPLYING TO:
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Yale-NUS Singapore, Cornell (Dyson), NYU Stern, NYU Abu Dhabi, UPenn (Jerome Fisher and Wharton), Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill and Minerva Schools at KGI.
Any and all feedback is welcome.
Regards,
SS.